Trick or Treat
by Kitt Chaos
Summary: It's not Kaiba's fault uninvited guests crash the VR Halloween event Kaiba Corporation is hosting for some of the most disadvantaged children. Or, is it? No pairings, brotherly fluff. The only violence is to Kaiba's dignity.
1. Chapter 1

Summary – It's not Kaiba's fault uninvited guests crash the VR event Kaiba Corporation is hosting for some of the most disadvantaged children. Or, is it? No pairings, brotherly fluff.

Disclaimer – Kazuki Takahashi is the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! This story was written to show my appreciation for the world, situations, and characters he has given us, and in no way makes any claim on his right to his work.

**Trick or Treat**

**Chapter One**

Kaiba checked all the settings again. He keyed the command that displayed the power system chart, that graphed the current and projected power use, and rated the energy quality. He reached to the console to key in yet another command, only to have his hand stopped by Mokuba.

"It's fine, Big Brother!" Mokuba's eyes smiled up at him, shiny and happy.

"I'm not sure that I trust this system," Kaiba admitted.

"You went over it with a fine-toothed comb, Seto. You even disassembled and rebuilt every single bit of the hardware. Yes, Seto, _every_ single bit. There's not any of the Big Five's handiwork left in the system," Mokuba told him. "This will work -- just as you programmed it to, Seto."

Kaiba stopped fussing then. At least, overtly, where Mokuba could see. Instead, he traced every bit of circuitry, every program cluster, every power converter, mentally, and hoped that it would indeed work as he programmed it to.

His VR game had been co-opted and turned into a weapon against him by the Big Five, the executives of his own company who wanted to overthrow him, seize control of Kaiba Corp., and hand it over to Pegasus. After rescuing Mokuba from Pegasus' very clutches (no, Kaiba admitted to himself, after _being_ rescued himself along with Mokuba by Yugi from Pegasus' very clutches -- he was scrupulously honest with himself) and returning home, he'd been informed that the Big Five had directed that one of his pet projects be completed in his absence.

He knew it was a trap. It had to be. But, he had created the VR simulator, and the program, and there was no way those pin-headed executives could out-program or out-play _him_. Or so he thought. They'd screwed up his program. They'd gotten into the source code and completely mucked it up. Most disturbing of all to Kaiba was the way they changed Prince Eden, the character Kaiba had based upon Mokuba. They'd made him female, and then they had the audacity to make her wimpy and ineffective. The only reason to have done that was to upset him. It had not affected the VR story, or ultimately the trap that had captured Kaiba in the Big Five's version of that story. Kaiba had seethed when he ran into that perversion of his programming and hoped that Mokuba would never know what had been done. He had been quite dismayed that Mokuba had run into 'Princess Edenia' and hoped that Mokuba didn't think that was how Kaiba thought of him.

Yugi had saved him, yet again. Kaiba seethed over that. He was -- grateful -- for the rescue, but annoyed that it had been needed. He was highly annoyed that in order to put paid to the Big Five and their monstrous communal 'Mythic Dragon', he had to put his dragon at Yugi's command and control. Still, if there was one person he would trust with that sort of command, it was Yugi. Damn him.

He sighed.

"It will work, Seto! Just as you programmed, and those kids will have a fun night to take their minds off of..."

Kaiba reached out to tousle Mokuba's hair. His little brother, despite all the weird things, some of them quite bad, that had happened to him, had the biggest heart. Kaiba knew he was wrapped around Mokuba's little finger, but he didn't mind. His little brother would never abuse the power that gave him.

Like this. Mokuba had begged Kaiba to repair the VR simulator. Kaiba hadn't wanted to -- he thought he'd ordered it destroyed after the Big Five had ruined it for him. Mokuba had quietly countermanded that order, but ordered it powered down, and any components that weren't in Kaiba's original schematics to be removed.

At Mokuba's insistence, he and Kaiba had spent nearly every waking moment that wasn't taken up with school, work, dueling, and other such important activities, for the past six months writing a new program for the simulator, and making certain that it was restored to the condition and shape Kaiba wanted -- not the Big Five's version.

Mokuba had handled the PR aspects of selecting the very few, but very special 'VR Explorers' who would have access to the repaired VR system. They were fifteen children, who, through either accident or genetics, were partially or fully immobilized in hospitals, long-term care facilities, or their own family homes. Mokuba had vetted hundreds of such children in the range of Kaiba's VR simulator, making sure that this initial group of VR Explorers were the right blend of intelligent and imaginative enough to use the system, mentally balanced enough to not wish to lose themselves in the VR experience, and otherwise what he called 'worthy'. When Kaiba had asked him about that last one, and how Mokuba had quantified it, his little brother had replied, "You know, just, _worthy_. They got paralyzed through no fault of their own. They didn't do something stupid to wind up in their situations. Maybe for other VR Explorers, eventually, because even stupid people deserve a chance to be happy, but not the first ones. They have to be -- good."

Given the challenge that some of the 'worthy' ones Mokuba selected were in such nearly complete states of paralysis that it wasn't feasible to bring them to the VR suite at Kaiba Corporation headquarters, and he was an electronics genius after all, Kaiba had made the VR helmets self-contained. This had required a highly protected satellite up-link, of course, but he had his experiences with the Kaiba Corp. dueling computers and disks to draw upon. He reminded himself of all of this, and tried to convince himself that nothing would go wrong. He managed to not reach forward and fidget with calling up new commands on the console in front of him, displaying a slightly bored, outward sense of calm, but inside, he worried. And fidgeted.

"It's dusk, Big Brother!" Mokuba reported happily from the window.

Okay, Kaiba reminded himself. Mokuba wants this to work -- work it will! He pulled the control helmet, that would put him in contact with all sixteen VR Explorers, over his head and adjusted the microphone properly next to his mouth. Mokuba climbed into the only one of the original VR pods there was in use this night, now situated in the same room next to Kaiba's control console. Kaiba would monitor Mokuba's situation directly, and he wanted no distance between them. Kaiba flipped the switches that would give him the real-time information from the dedicated and secured Kaiba Corp. satellite that would be in use, and the equally dedicated and secured redundant satellite he reserved as a back-up, just in case.

"Kaiba Corporation's VR Halloween Event commences, now," he stated in the microphone in a calm voice. His voice carried to each of the fifteen selected VR Explorers through both the internal and external speakers in their helmets. "Place the VR helmet over your head." He waited a few moments, knowing that some of the more profoundly paralyzed children would require caretakers to help with this step. He'd carefully designed the helmets to work with all sorts of apparatus that assisted with breathing, not wishing any of the children soon to be in his care to be harmed in any way. He keyed the command that would slowly polarize the faceplates of each helmet, creating an artificial dusk before each child's eyes.

"Relax and remain calm. You will remain in your beds, safe and cared for the entire time while the helmet on your head helps your mind to wander. You were each asked to decide what costume you wanted to wear for Halloween this year. Close your eyes, and imagine it, now."

Five sub-windows popped up immediately. Kaiba glanced at each one, to make certain they were of children wearing costumes, and not of children imagining themselves as superheroes, monsters, or other fantastic beings. The psychologist he'd brought in to consult with about this project had been quite clear about that. He keyed the commands that would add a little something extra to each child's costume, 'lock' this view the children held of themselves, and sent those minds to the waiting area in the game. In the few seconds he was working with that seven other windows popped up one by one. Each of these costumes was acceptable, too, so he enhanced and locked the images and routed the children's minds into the VR simulator.

"Jeremy, are you having trouble imagining it?" Kaiba flipped the private communication switch and asked one of the four hold-outs carefully. Jeremy's sub-screen flickered nervously.

"I can't decide." The child's voice was light in his ear.

"Would you like some help?" Kaiba asked softly.

"Yes, please."

"Imagine each one for me, slowly." Kaiba watched as a boy in a t-shirt, but no costume appeared. Clearly not acceptable. He was replaced by the same boy in the same outfit but wearing a scary mask. Better, but not good enough. Finally, the same boy in an extravagant pirate costume, complete with an eye-patch, parrot on his shoulder, and 'real' wooden peg-leg. Kaiba called up the medical information on Jeremy in yet another sub-window. Sure enough, Jeremy had lost his leg to an amputation that staved off a life-threatening infection in the limb. "The pirate one looks to be the most fun, to me, Jeremy," Kaiba said. "But, I'm going to modify it for you slightly." He turned off the communication connection just as he got the child's tentative agreement.

"O-okay..."

Kaiba keyed the commands swiftly – to give the boy a sound and normal leg instead of a wooden one, and to animate his parrot. He'd be able to keep a closer eye on the boy through the parrot. The psychologist had impressed upon him most strongly that for this VR adventure, the children much be unhampered by their true physical conditions. He emailed a transcript of the exchange to the professional, so that the man could make certain that Kaiba's seat-of-the-pants psychological instincts hadn't harmed the boy as he shunted Jeremy's mind into the game. While he was doing that, a fairy princess and a miniature duelist who bore more than a passing resemblance to Yugi in his dueling outfit, complete with outrageous wig, appeared in their own windows. Kaiba added a special continuous sparkle effect to the princess's wand and gown, and eliminated the wig of the other child, directly changing the boy's VR hair into Yugi's distinctively weird style.

He added the screens up, after closing all extraneous ones. He knew that the children, in the waiting area of the game, were waiting, probably not patiently at all, for the VR 'parents' to open the door and let them go trick-or-treating. While they were waiting, the doorbell was ringing at random intervals, and other completely VR trick-or-treaters were getting their treats from the VR parents. There were sixteen sub-windows, but the number was off, since one of them was the spy-parrot he'd added. Who was missing? He turned and glared at Mokuba. His little brother grinned at him, and his screen finally popped up. A Blue-Eyes White Dragon roared defiantly at Kaiba. Kaiba smiled at that, but turned to face his little brother again.

"You know I can't let you have that as your costume, Mokuba. Maybe later, but not now. Not with these kids."

"Yeah, but I wanted you to know that was my first choice."

"Okay, now I know. Your second choice? Make sure it's one that will work, Mokuba."

At Kaiba's no-nonsense tone, Mokuba complied. Kaiba's lips twitched again, even as he enhanced and locked the image and sent Mokuba's mind into the waiting area. Mokuba appeared in the waiting room, his hair combed down in a ruthlessly neat style he could never achieve in real life, complete with a white trench coat that gleamed with KC logos at the lapels. A very detailed Duel Disk, that Kaiba had considerately made lighter weight than they really were, but whimsically decided would actually work, was strapped to his left arm. Despite his lack of the proper height, Mokuba spread his legs into the stance Kaiba most often affected when he was dueling, and crossly demanded to know what the hold-up was.

Knowing that Mokuba's mind was elsewhere, Kaiba allowed himself to laugh at his little brother's antics. It was going to be fun for him to watch as Mokuba pretended to be "Seto Kaiba" for his trick-or-treat costume. Kaiba smirked knowing that he had managed to sneak in a few enhancements that Mokuba didn't know about. If his little brother was bold enough to trick him, he deserved a few VR tricks back, in return.

"Dad," Mokuba pulled on 'Dad's' jacket insistently. "Can we _go_ now?" That was the VR cue for the parents to supply the children with bags to collect candy in, and release them for their trick-or-treat portion of the night's festivities. While the kids were out trick-or-treating in Mokuba's company and under his supervision, Kaiba would trigger the sequence that turned the waiting area 'house' into a haunted house for the VR party.

The psychologist had been most insistent that the children's self-images be confined to what was real (minus their individual handicaps, of course) but permitted Kaiba to populate the VR world with whatever he wished. Each child was well aware that this was a VR simulation, so the psychologist saw no harm in it. Therefore, the VR world the children trick-or-treated in was filled with what appeared to be 'real' monsters, both Halloween and Duel Monsters in origin, along with other virtual trick-or-treaters. The VR Explorers leisurely wound their way through the neighborhoods, ringing bells, getting candy, and otherwise enjoying an activity that some of them had only ever heard about, but never done. Kaiba kept a close eye on Jeremy with his spy-parrot, but he seemed to be acting the same way the other children were.

It was while Kaiba was checking the power-flow consumption, up-link security, and program status when everything fell apart. His mind was abruptly pulled away from his master console, and unceremoniously shoved into that of the spy-parrot. Shocked by the sudden change, blacking out from it for some reason, he blinked up and saw the VR Dark Magician looking directly into his eyes, smirking at him, and wagging a finger.

"_But, I never programmed _that!" His thoughts protested as he lost consciousness.

– – – – –  
Author's note –

I hadn't expected to write a Halloween fic this year, as I didn't have any inspiration. Normally my Halloween stories are in the Vampire Hunter D fandom, as well. I'm trying to get ready for NaNoWriMo this year, and post another chapter to 'The Remedy' before November. So, of course, Dragonboy has to slam me with a new plotbunny. This isn't even that plotbunny either. This is an entirely new one he concocted for just for Halloween – well, this chapter is his idea anyway. (The other four chapters are my revenge on him for making me write this.) It's entirely his fault the direction this story took.

Next chapter teaser – Seto want a cracker?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Kaiba regained consciousness again, to find himself still facing a smirking Dark Magician. Somehow he knew this wasn't a VR representation of the Duel Monster, it was the very Duel Monster himself. "What the hell did you do to me?" He raised a hand to his forehead, rather, he started to, but stopped when he saw multicolored feathers, instead. He sprang into the air and squawked in the Magician's face. "Turn me back to normal, this instant!" He glared, then widened his eyes in shock. "Mokuba! The children!"

"Calm down, Seto," Dark Magician reached out and plucked the irate parrot from the air. "They, and you, are safe. We became aware of your Halloween event for these children, and wanted to help." Dark Magician rotated the parrot in his hands. All of the children, even Mokuba, were there. They appeared to be frozen, though. Kaiba diagnosed it as the effect from 'Swords of Revealing Light'.

"You don't know what you are doing," Kaiba implored urgently. He squirmed, until Dark Magician freed him. Thankfully, Kaiba had programmed the spy-parrot with flight, so he could maintain something of an eye-to-eye perspective with the tall Duel Monster. "These children can be harmed – not physically, even I know you'd never intentionally hurt children, but psychologically. They aren't... They have..."

Dark Magician gazed fondly down on the children arrayed before him. "We know all about these special children, Kaiba, more than you think. Whether he realizes it or not, Mokuba selected children who each used one of us, and their imaginations, to break the limitations their damaged bodies have forced on them. We dwellers of the Shadow Realm are aware of much more of what happens than just what we perceive when we are called into duels. Don't worry, Seto." Dark Magician's very serenity made Kaiba want to smack the calm expression off his face.

"Why drag me into it?" Kaiba asked. "If I can't stop you, and you didn't need my help that is."

"The children _did_ need to be made receptive to our influence to be brought here. Your VR simulator did that. Bringing you along was – an unintended effect of your decision to watch Jeremy here more closely with your VR parrot."

"Can you return me to normal?" Kaiba asked plaintively. It was really making him uncomfortable to be such a weak creature in the face of the Dark Magician.

"Not unless you want Jeremy, the other children, and Mokuba for that matter, to know you were spying on them. How will Mokuba take it, if he feels you didn't trust him?"

"That's beneath you, Magician."

Dark Magician laughed. "I didn't create the situation, Seto, you did. All I'm doing is enjoying it." Abruptly he sobered. "But, if you endure this odd little trick – that you unintentionally played on yourself, I might add – and permit us to 'treat' these children – there might be a treat in it for you, too."

"You can't bribe me, Magician. These children are in my care, and I won't let anything happen to them." Kaiba regretted that he hadn't had the foresight to build an internal kill-switch for the whole thing, just as there was a master kill-switch on his console – an oversight he was going to take care of as soon as he got all of them out of this mess. There were safety protocols in place, of course, but he couldn't trigger any of the dynamic ones in his current state as a VR parrot. He hadn't intended to enter the simulation himself at all. He knew that a general emergency shut-down of the simulator would give all of them, himself and Mokuba along with the children, a massive headache, but that was preferable to permitting the Duel Monsters to inflict untold psychological damage on them.

"They are as safe in the Shadow Realm, in our care, as they are in your own, Seto. We won't let anything damaging happen to their minds, either. The effect of Swords of Revealing Light will end soon. I thought to give you the courtesy of letting you know what we are doing. It's up to you if you wish to spoil the treat we planned for these children."

Kaiba fumed. It didn't help that he was going to have to remain in the form of a ridiculous pirate parrot in the meantime, or else have Mokuba think he didn't trust him – when he did. "I'll only speak up if I see something happen that will harm one of the children. And it's on your head, Magician, if anything happens to any of them – especially my little brother!"

"Perish the thought!" Dark Magician said, while scooping the Kaiba parrot out of the air and placing him back on Jeremy's shoulder. With that, the Swords of Revealing Light expired.

"Ah, children!" Dark Magician called out. "As fun as trick-or-treating is, surely you didn't think that was all there was to Kaiba Corporation's Halloween Event, did you? Mr. Kaiba, in the process of selecting each of you, discovered who your favorite Duel Monsters are!" Kaiba watched as Mokuba started. This hadn't been part of the programmed event, at all. Dark Magician noticed, too. "Mokuba interviewed each of you, didn't he? Well, between that and the questionnaires, we know everything we need to know to make this the best Halloween treat, ever, for each of you!"

Dark Magician used the misdirection and distraction of his theatrical oration to focus the children's attention on himself permitting other Duel Monsters to come nearer to the children, completely unnoticed. Suddenly an assortment of noises, low growls, cleared throats, tentative greetings – all-in-all fifteen different utterances dramatically announced their presence. Except for two children, each one turned, squealed, whooped, yelled or otherwise made their delight known, and pounced, grabbed up, were grabbed by, or in some other way made contact with their chosen Duel Monster.

Jeremy stood stock still and stared up at the Dark Magician with huge, round, entranced eyes. Kaiba wanted to face-wing at that – as if the situation weren't already bad enough, Dark Magician _had_ to be Jeremy's favorite Duel Monster, too! Mokuba's quiet approach to Dark Magician's side caught his attention instead.

"Sir?" He stared up as he called Dark Magician's attention to himself. Dark Magician smiled and went down to one knee before the boy. Kaiba was just able to see both of them in profile from his vantage point on Jeremy's shoulder, and just able to make out their conversation. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, seemingly nervously on Jeremy's shoulder, so that the boy would hear his feathers rustling instead of the conversation between the Duel Monster and his little brother.

"Forgive us that we had to enhance this event, Mokuba." Mokuba's eyes widened at that. Dark Magician's gaze slid over to where Jeremy watched with delighted eyes. Kaiba caught Mokuba's swift nod of understanding and realized that his brother now knew what was going on – at least so far as to realize that they were in the presence of real Duel Monsters and not VR versions – and that the need to keep this information to himself was paramount. "Perhaps, your big brother permitting, we can discuss this later." Dark Magician reached out to arrange and smooth the lapels of Mokuba's Seto Kaiba costume to sit more properly – something Kaiba himself had itched to do since Mokuba appeared in the VR world. "For now, there's a certain Duel Monster waiting patiently for your attention."

"Uhm...?" Mokuba looked puzzled. "But I'm not one of the..." His gaze followed to where Dark Magician pointed. A Blue-Eyes White Dragon bugled softly at him. "Wow," he breathed. "WOW!" He gazed up at Dark Magician with great, shiny eyes, and threw an impulsive hug around the Duel Monster's shoulders before he gathered himself, nodded in what he probably thought to be a curt Seto-esque sort of way, and dashed off to meet the Blue-Eyes.

"Some children are special for entirely different reasons," Dark Magician noted quietly. Kaiba was shocked to realize fondness colored the Magician's tone. Dark Magician? Cared for his brother? Wonders would never cease!

"Now that that is taken care of, Jeremy, it's time for you and I to get acquainted," Dark Magician rose to his feet, took the few steps necessary to get to Jeremy's side, and went down on one knee again before _this_ child.

Kaiba realized that his concerns the Duel Monsters would traumatize the children were completely unfounded. Each Duel Monster not only permitted each child to believe this was some highly elaborate virtual reality created by Kaiba Corporation's equipment, they fostered that understanding. Still, at least one of them managed to connect with the child who had chosen him in a way that profoundly affected that child. Kaiba was amazed that Dark Magician used Jeremy's fascination with him to teach the child the concept of the art of misdirection. Dark Magician was gentle, but direct, when he told Jeremy that it was entirely possible for him to be fitted with an artificial leg, learn to walk again, and yet make it so that it wasn't obvious to others that he had an artificial leg – something that Jeremy had resisted since losing his natural leg. He'd refused to even meet with the prosthodontist. This was the only interaction Kaiba was able to watch first hand, but it seemed as if the interactions of child and Duel Monster were, contrary to his fears, beneficial for the child.

The child he was most concerned with, his little brother, was having the time of his life riding on the back of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Kaiba couldn't help but smile at the delight he could make out on Mokuba's face whenever he was close enough for Kaiba to see it.

"Oh, yes. A most excellent parrot, indeed!" Kaiba's attention was forcibly pulled back to Jeremy and Dark Magician as he was scooped up off of Jeremy's shoulder by the Duel Monster. "Parrots can be trained to be the perfect partners in magic tricks, you know." Dark Magician bent Kaiba's head down, and his hindquarters up, to more or less fold him into a small shape in his hand. Kaiba's bird instincts, which he immediately regretted programming with such exacting detail, kept him curled as the Magician wanted. While in this compact shape, he lost track of what Dark Magician did to whisk him about as the object in a dizzying array of sleight-of-hand disappearance and reappearance magic tricks. Jeremy was delighted. His clapping, oohing, and aahing gathered the children around Dark Magician once more. Kaiba became completely disoriented as Dark Magician used a series of very quick prestidigitations, complete with the usual magician patter, and he suspected the use of actual Dark Magic, to spirit Kaiba the parrot under his helmet. Kaiba managed to wriggle his way out through the Dark Magician's hair, and flop to the ground where he reeled about in wing-flailing, dizzy disorientation, much to the children's highly vocal delight.

"Now, children. It's time for you to say good-bye to your Duel Monster friends, and attend the Halloween party that's been prepared for you," Dark Magician announced. He knelt, scooped Kaiba up once more, absently petted his back while the last of the dizziness passed, and placed him back on Jeremy's shoulder.

"But, I don't want to go!" The princess wailed. Celtic Guardian, her favorite Duel Monster, immediately went to his knees and talked softly to her. Any other child who seemed displeased by the announcement was similarly comforted by his or her chosen Duel Monster.

"You know how to find us, whenever you need us," Dark Magician claimed. "Whenever you are lonely or bored, or whenever your therapies get a little too tough, all you have to do is remember us and this night, and know that we are remembering it, too. Your imaginations, each and every one, help to make us real." Dark Magician smiled. "Well, as real as a VR world can make us. Just remember that you are special, the very first of Kaiba Corporation's VR Explorers. Who knows what other worlds you can discover – and conquer!"

Kaiba felt the blackness reaching for him again, and realized that Dark Magician was doing whatever it was he did to send them back into the VR simulator, again.

– – – – –  
Author's note –

Heh, heh, heh!

Next chapter teaser – Boo! Did I scare you?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The Dark Magician, that Kaiba had erroneously assumed was his VR _simulation_ of Dark Magician, stopped wagging his finger, and winked at him instead. A subtle, graceful, but somehow dismissive gesture on Dark Magician's part slammed Kaiba's consciousness out of the parrot, and back into his own body, again. While fuming at the abrupt treatment under his breath, Kaiba checked the console in front of him. Only two minutes of real time had passed, and nothing the equipment recognized as out the ordinary had happened that would cause the VR simulator to trip an alarm. On the seventeen screens in front of him, Kaiba watched as Duel Monsters, that he didn't program to act this way, reached for hands, swung children up to massive shoulders, or backs, or in some other way gathered his VR Explorers and brought them back to the now-haunted house for the last part of their VR adventure.

He quickly set to work as some of the monsters were far too massive in form to enter what appeared to be a normal house. He supposed he could have simply increased the scale of the house to accommodate them, but what was the challenge in that? And the children did like the company of the Duel Monsters so. Kaiba didn't want to admit to himself that the fondness of the Duel Monsters for the children played a role in his abrupt decision that the Duel Monsters could join the children for the last part of the VR adventure – the haunted house.

Only seven of the monsters had to be altered, after all, and only two couldn't be simply diminished in size to fit. One of the children liked Thousand Dragon, and Mokuba had the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. After reducing the five easy ones into miniature versions of themselves – small enough to fit in the house, a sparkle effect spilled over the two dragons. The children watched entranced as Thousand Dragon and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon changed into impressive warriors wearing Thousand Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon armor instead. The children turned as one to look up at Dark Magician with highly impressed, shiny eyes.

He held up his hands and shook his head. "I had nothing to do with that! I suspect someone is very kindly watching over us. Be sure to thank Mr. Kaiba for this wonderful adventure when you can, children."

The haunted house, which Kaiba had been worried would be anti-climactic after Dark Magician had hijacked the children into the Shadow Realm, proved to be the biggest hit of the night, instead. Safe and secure in the protective company of their favorite monsters, Kaiba found he was able to adjust the fright level of his haunted house up – without terrifying the children. He smirked in triumph when Jeremy turned and reassured Dark Magician that the effect that had startled the Duel Monster was just 'a VR thing'.

It was with a regretful reluctance that he acknowledged the chiming that indicated the two hour event was over. He knew that by now, Roland and his team would have delivered the Halloween goodie-bags that had been prepared for each of the children. They'd done the walking, as it were, to earn the treats, it seemed wrong that they would have nothing to show for it. That some of the treats in each bag were more for the parents struggling to make ends meet in the face of children with special, and expensive, needs, was not something the children ever needed to know.

Kaiba adjusted the communication interface so that his voice would carry to the children (and Duel Monsters) within the simulator, and their parents or caretakers in each child's room, as well as directly into each child's physical ear via the VR helmet.

"Thank you for taking part in Kaiba Corporation's first VR Halloween Event. We hope that you enjoyed the festivities." Kaiba reflected that this had been quite a bit more fun for him than handing out candy at the front door. Helping these children enjoy the holiday that some of them couldn't take part in at all had been far more satisfying than he'd thought it would be. "For now, please say your good-byes and know that all of you are welcome to join us for Halloween again, next year."

A new screen popped up on Kaiba's console. "_All_ of us?" Dark Magician asked, for Kaiba's ears only, smirking up at him.

"Hmm. We will discuss that, later." Kaiba hissed for only the Duel Monster to hear, and took satisfaction savagely closing the screen. He watched carefully as each child said their good-byes to each other, a completely unintended effect that he quickly sent a follow-up email to the psychologist about, and their favorite Duel Monster. Each Duel Monster, after that good-bye, made things easier by leaving through the front door of the house. That was when Kaiba permitted the VR simulator to release that child's mind and depolarize that child's helmet, the pre-arranged signal to parents and caretakers that the VR session was over.

Dark Magician re-entered the VR house once Jeremy had been returned home. He waited quietly as the rest of the children were returned and Mokuba was the only child left. Kaiba watched as Mokuba listened at length and finally nodded to something Dark Magician said to him. The canny Duel Monster kept his voice low enough that the microphone couldn't pick up any distinct words. He sighed, wondering what that was about. Mokuba nodded up toward the ceiling after that, the signal that he was ready to return. It didn't escape Kaiba's notice that both his Blue-Eyes White Dragon Warrior, and Dark Magician merited a hug from his little brother.

"Seto! You made everyone so happy!" Mokuba called out. Kaiba grunted, waiting in his chair, as his little brother extricated himself from the VR pod. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when Mokuba plastered himself against his side in a hug. "That trip to the Shadow Realm to meet the real monsters was so awesome! How did you program _that _without me knowing?" Mokuba stepped away, put his hands on his hips and glared at Kaiba. He was far too excited and happy to stay upset for long, though, and dashed in to hug his big brother again. "I don't care! It was so cool! And thanks for changing Blue-Eyes into that the awesome Dragon Warrior, Seto, so he could stay with me in the haunted house! Did you know he has your face?" Seto started at that. He hadn't programmed _that_. He leaned forward and called up the programming specs. Sure enough, the algorithm for rendering the Warrior's face had been changed to resemble his. He was sure a certain Dark Magic user, who really had no right to be skilled at programming, too, from inside the program no less, was the culprit.

"Dark Magician wants to meet with you, Seto. I still can't understand how you managed to connect your VR simulation with the real Shadow Realm, though."

Kaiba didn't want his brother to have any false information. "I didn't. I think it's something that – Magician – did."

"He said you would say that, Seto. He also said that was wrong – it's something _you_ did. He said if you want to know what, you'd have to meet him in the VR simulator. He's got to be the real Dark Magician, Seto. There's no way you'd make a VR version that was so..."

"Annoying?"

Mokuba smiled. "Well, yeah. To you. I was going to say disrespectful, though. To you, that is. He's very nice to me." Mokuba slammed his hands over his mouth in shock at what he said.

Kaiba laughed and reached out to tousle Mokuba's hair fondly. "I'm glad he's nice to you, Mokuba. Otherwise I'd have to hurt him – but you wouldn't like that, would you?"

"No, I would not!" Mokuba glared up at Kaiba, before becoming bossy. "Okay, Big Brother, get in the pod."

"What? Now? Mokuba, that program has been compromised! Until I have a chance to debug it..."

"Everything turned out okay, didn't it? The Shadow Realm connection is something you caused, so it can't harm you. Besides, I insist." Mokuba planted his fists on his hips again, and glared.

"You've programmed something you want me to see, haven't you?" Kaiba realized. "Is it a trick, or a treat?"

Mokuba grinned at him. "I'm not telling!" By that, Kaiba knew it was a trick. Knowing his brother, probably followed by a treat, too. Shaking his head at the folly of it all, Kaiba permitted his brother to hound him into the VR pod, lower the helmet onto his head, and demand for him to wait while Mokuba clambered up into the console chair. It was while he was waiting that his apprehension hit him full force. The last time he had done this, the Big Five had trapped his mind in the VR game. He nearly tore the helmet from his head at the distasteful memory, but knotted his hands together instead.

It wasn't the Big Five sending his mind into the VR simulator this time. It was his brother. He trusted Mokuba. And, Kaiba reluctantly reminded himself, Dark Magician, of all "people" wanted to meet him. There might be no love lost between them, but Kaiba was sure Dark Magician wouldn't let anything happen to Kaiba's mind, even if the simulator, or its program, did have a serious flaw in it. If, for no other reason, than to smirk at him about it.

– – – – –  
Author's note –

Next chapter teaser – Mokiezilla!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The flash he'd been expecting, and dreading, deposited him in what appeared to be a small clearing in a forest of trees. The moon gleamed overhead. Kaiba looked down – sure enough his Duel Disk, complete with what had to be his deck of cards, was strapped to his arm. This was it. This was his RPG adventure, the one the Big Five had distorted into the trap that snared him after he returned from Duelist Kingdom.

"Mokuba..."

"I fixed it, Big Brother." Mokuba's happy voice rang all around him. "I stripped out every bit of the code that wasn't yours and restored it. There are some bits I had to write myself, the code you wrote was too damaged, but it's a good adventure. I promise!" Kaiba heard a few clicks. Mokuba had a few things to learn about manning the command console during a VR adventure. Assuming he didn't have too bad an experience playing this blasted and be-damned adventure again, Kaiba thought he'd teach Mokuba some of the subtleties of running a VR program. "Oh! There you are!" There was a pause as Kaiba couldn't hear part of the conversation. "No, I insist. It's the least you can do." Another pause. "I know what you did and I'm not too happy about it." Kaiba had to smile at the steel in Mokuba's voice. "If you do this for me, I'll consider letting you off the hook for it." A final pause, and then a note of satisfaction in Mokuba's voice. "I thought you'd see things my way."

A cluster of sparkles deposited a rather bemused Dark Magician next to Kaiba. "I think the Kaiba I need to watch out for the most might be Mokuba and not you," Dark Magician said.

"You better believe it," Kaiba growled. "Though I'm not exactly sure what you could have done to get on his bad side. He seemed quite taken with you before."

Dark Magician managed a sheepish smile. "He scanned the VR logs. He knows you were the parrot I was using for my magic tricks before. He's not at all happy with me for that."

Kaiba stilled in shock. "He – knows?" And here he was trapped in Mokuba's version of his VR adventure game. There was no telling what Mokuba would do – now that he knew. If he thought – for even a moment – that Kaiba hadn't trusted him... "Mokuba! I'm sorry! It's not that I didn't trust you, it's that Jeremy needed closer observation!"

Mokuba's laugh suddenly rolled all around them like ominous thunder. "Well, now, we will just have to see what to do about that!"

Kaiba wheeled on the Duel Monster. "This is all _your_ fault, Magician! If you hadn't hijacked the children from my Halloween event into the Shadow Realm, none of this would ever have happened! How did you manage to connect my VR simulator to the Shadow Realm in the first place?"

"_My_ fault?" Dark Magician looked affronted. "We were minding our own business, doing what we could for our children whenever their imaginations brought them near enough, when your simulator crashed into the Shadow Realm and made the connection. This is all your fault, Seto Kaiba!"

"Wait. What?"

Dark Magician heaved a sigh. "Yami and Yugi use their own brand of magic, and somehow Joey captures random chance. In you, it expresses as technological brilliance." Dark Magician leaned over and tapped Kaiba on the chest at Kaiba's continued blank expression. "The Heart of the Cards?"

Kaiba's immediate knee-jerk reaction was to scoff.

"Believe it, or not, but the connection between your VR simulator and the Shadow Realm is entirely your doing, Seto. With the chance to interact directly, if somewhat obliquely, with our children suddenly appearing in front of us, we just wanted to help out. That's all." Having said his piece, Dark Magician turned his back, and crossed his arms. He called up into the air. "I'm finished here, Mokuba. I've told your brother what I wanted to say. I'm ready to leave, now."

"I'm not ready for you to leave yet, Magician." Mokuba's voice had deepened and assumed an oddly strained quality. A Duel Disk sparkled into being on Dark Magician's left arm. "Help Seto solve my adventure, and I'll think about forgiving you for what you did to him." This last bit was uttered in a clipped, low, and somewhat thickened tone.

"Uh-oh. He is really mad!" Kaiba whispered is a horrified voice.

For the first time that Kaiba had ever seen, a hesitant, less-than-confident look crossed the Dark Magician's face. "What does that mean?"

"Unless you can spirit us to the Shadow Realm from here, we've got to play Mokuba's adventure to get out. Play – and win."

Dark Magician closed his eyes. After a long moment, he opened them again. "I'm unable to leave," he reported.

"I was afraid of that."

"It's quite impressive, really. To cut me, _me_, off from the Shadow Realm?" The Duel Monster shook his head in wonder.

"Yes, yes. Admire my brother's evil genius another time. If we don't start moving on our own, he's going to start attacking..."

Ominous insect noises rose all around them. Kaiba listened carefully, and started sprinting for the one direction he didn't hear the sounds coming from. "Follow me! Keep up, if you can!"

– – – – –  
Author's note –

Next chapter teaser – What sort of treat does one give a dragon anyway? (And heaven help anyone who wants to play a trick on one instead!)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It turned out that Dark Magician was a great asset to have along on a Duel Monsters-based RPG adventure. It also turned out that the Duel Monster would probably rank rather well as a duelist, if he were able to enter tournaments – though it didn't hurt that Mokuba had given him Yugi's deck for the adventure – minus his own card, of course – the ability and power of which deck he knew intimately well. All in all, Kaiba found himself admiring the companion Mokuba forced on him – especially when Dark Magician was able to use one of the new cards they'd found along the way to turn himself into the never-before-seen Dark Magic Dragon. As a dragon, Dark Magician was predictably purple in color, and his ability to combine his dark-attribute attack with Seto's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's most powerful light-attribute attack did the trick to defeat the Mythic Dragon. Kaiba wasn't so sure this combination of powers should be enough to take the beast down, but decided not to point that out, as it meant they successfully completed Mokuba's adventure.

The VR effect blinded him again. When the dazzle passed, he wasn't surprised to find that he and Dark Magician had been transported to the front porch of the VR haunted house.

"Uhm, did you have fun, Big Brother?" Unlike before, Mokuba's disembodied voice sounded completely normal.

"Yes, Mokuba, I did. A lot." Kaiba responded carefully. He wondered why Mokuba hadn't pulled him out of the VR simulator yet. "You aren't – uhm – still mad at me, are you?" he dared to ask.

"I wasn't mad at you at all, Seto!" Mokuba protested. "I sort of pretended I was, so that you might be a little bit frightened, to make the adventure more fun. I understand why you wanted to watch Jeremy a little bit closer. _You _didn't do anything to upset me."

"From your emphasis, I'm guessing that I did?" Dark Magician asked.

"Yes, you did! Bad enough to force Seto be that parrot when you took over the program, but then what you did to him with your magic tricks was just mean!" It warmed Kaiba's heart that his brother defended him so staunchly. "What should I do to him, Seto? Just tell me – I'm sure I can program it."

"I'm sure you could, Mokuba." The truly scary thing was he knew Mokuba _could_ program some awful VR effects on the fly – nearly as well as he could. Kaiba glanced at Dark Magician, who appeared as though he might consider panicking as he still couldn't return to the Shadow Realm. From the looks of it, Kaiba suspected that's exactly what Dark Magician was trying – and failing – to do. Impressive, really, just as the Duel Monster noted before, that his brother could do that. Kaiba though it served the smug Dark Magician right to sweat just a little. He lifted his head and projected his voice 'up' so that Mokuba could hear him clearly. "I don't know, Mokuba. He was very effective helping me to solve your adventure. I couldn't have succeeded without his help. So, he has his uses."

"But, Seto..."

"And," Kaiba interrupted him. "As much as it – startled – me at the time, when he took control of the Halloween Event away from me, it all turned out for the best. The children really enjoyed the Duel Monsters' company – even though they think they was just VR simulations of their favorite monsters."

"Yeah, but..."

"_And_," Kaiba dared to interrupt a final time. "It really wasn't so bad, being that parrot. Even when Dark Magician decided to use me as a prop for his magic tricks."

At that, Dark Magician turned and faced him. "Oh, really?"

Kaiba was trying so hard to placate his little brother so that Mokuba wouldn't do anything horrendous to the currently helpless Duel Monster, that he had forgotten Dark Magician was listening. Caught out admitting something openly, Kaiba clarified his statement. "The children enjoyed it, right? And it's not like you were unduly rough or trying to hurt me. Just my dignity got a bit rumpled, that's all, and you're the only one who knows it was me in the first place. As long as it stays that way – and Yugi never finds out..."

"_I_ know, Big Brother. Just say the word and I'll smite 'im!"

Kaiba smiled at that. Mokuba had his back, even when there was no real need. "No, Mokuba. We'll let the Magician get away with it – this time."

"Are you sure?"

Kaiba gave Dark Magician a narrowed-eye, sour look, but responded, "Yes, Mokuba. I'm sure. Go ahead and release your program, so he can go back to the Shadow Realm, and..."

He had no chance to continue as the VR street suddenly filled with at least a dozen Duel Monsters. All three of his Blue-Eyes bugled greetings from the air. He guessed Mokuba had obeyed. A moment later, his little brother's arms wrapped around his waist. Mokuba was quivering.

"I didn't do anything, Seto! I was just keying in the return command for you when I suddenly appeared here, again!" Mokuba shivered again and stared up at him in shock. Kaiba knelt and wrapped his arms around his brother to comfort him, before picking him up and simply holding him. Normally he didn't anymore, as Mokuba told him once that being picked up like a child made him feel weak and small, but when his little brother's arms wrapped around his neck he knew he'd guessed right. "How are we going to get out, Seto? No one is at the controls! We're trapped here!"

Dark Magician nodded at the questioning look on Kaiba's face, and smirked.

"Everything is okay, Mokuba. I think a certain – someone – wasn't quite ready to go home just yet."

Dark Magician's smirk deepened and he walked over. He placed one hand in a comforting gesture on Mokuba's back, looked up into Kaiba's eyes, and the smirk on his face changed into a far more friendly smile. "I'd say all the tricks have been played, each of us upon the other, so all that's left are the treats – wouldn't you?"

"Treats?" Mokuba asked.

"Yes, treats." After a mystical hand wave Mokuba was again garbed in his VR Seto Kaiba costume. Mokuba squirmed, and Kaiba let him down. He couldn't help but tweak the drape of the trench coat and adjust the lapels to their proper angle before straightening up, though. "What should your brother's Halloween costume be?" Mokuba grinned up at the Dark Magician, and crooked his finger. Obediently, the tall Duel Monster leaned down so that the child could whisper in his ear. Kaiba wasn't surprised at all that the Dark Magician's mystical gesture in his direction clad him in the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Warrior armor. "And myself, young master Kaiba?"

Mokuba grinned up at him. "I'm sure you know."

"I'm sure I don't." Dark Magician winked at the boy.

Mokuba looked at the Duel Disk strapped to his arm as part of his costume. Kaiba belatedly remembered he'd programmed the thing to actually function. "I wonder if my Heart of the Cards works here." Kaiba sighed. Of course, Mokuba had been thoroughly indoctrinated into the 'Heart of the Cards' malarkey by Yugi and his gang before this, but having a Duel Monster confirm it didn't help any.

"Either VR or the Shadow Realm there's no reason to think it won't," Dark Magician replied.

"Well, then, I know which card I _want_ to pull from my deck."

Kaiba admired the arrogant little flourish Mokuba added to his deck drawn. Of course, as his little brother was pretending to be _him_ – and Kaiba as he was dueling, no less – it _had_ to be dramatic. Mokuba was dramatic slipping the card into the active magic card slot, too. Kaiba watched in expectation as a localized effect swirled around Dark Magician transforming him into the massive, purple Dark Magic Dragon that Mokuba had created for Kaiba's VR adventure.

Just like in that adventure, even though he was in dragon form, Dark Magician retained his power of speech. He crouched low and dipped a wing. "Care for a flight, young master Kaiba?"

Mokuba evidently did, because he whooped and climbed up to the dragon's back. Kaiba looked down from watching the Magician Dragon spiral up into the sky to find one of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons offering the same courtesy. He lost himself for a long moment staring into the fierce and warm regard in the dragon's nearest eye.

It had been the best Halloween, he reflected. Using his skills to the utmost, to give those fifteen children a Halloween they would never forget, had been so very satisfying. Watching his brother enjoy himself, knowing that Mokuba was not only happy, but safe, temporarily lifted a burden he'd carried for so long he barely recognized it as a burden any more. That the Duel Monster he most disliked seeing in a duel had been part of it all, and was the immediate reason he knew his brother was safe, amused him. Kaiba had developed a sophisticated and subtle palate for irony. That Dark Magician had gone out of his way to interfere, and help out with the Halloween event – evidently without his duelist knowing – surprised him, but not in a bad way. He'd still cringe internally whenever Dark Magician appeared on a field – especially as one of Yugi's Duel Monsters. But, Kaiba thought, perhaps this Halloween he'd somehow made a friend he never expected. One who'd always present a challenge, and be hard to deal with sometimes, but one who would also never irritate him with tedious and ridiculous friendship speeches. One he'd trust with his little brother's safety at times – like now, as the Magician Dragon folded his wings and swooped toward the ground, to Mokuba's ear-piercing delight. As Kaiba watched the purple dragon bearing his brother on his back bank away from the ground and easily climb back into the sky he thought, _Who needs roller-coasters when one has mostly-tame dragons – and magicians – for friends? Lucky kid._

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon blinked, breaking Kaiba's reverie, then turned his head and nudged Kaiba gently. Gently – for a dragon – but still nearly forceful enough to almost knock Kaiba off his feet. The gleaming white wing quivered, and dipped again, as if impatiently. Kaiba grinned, and accepted the offer.

As his dragon spiraled up to join the others in the air, Kaiba commented, to no one in particular, "Trick-or-treat, indeed."

-end-

– – – – –  
Author's note –

Yeah, yeah, I know I should actually write the adventure Mokuba forced Seto and Dark Magician to play, and not gloss over it. I realized that with the set-up I had in place, Mokuba hadn't planned for Dark Magician to help Seto – so he had to be altering and programming parts of the VR adventure on the fly. If I come up with something interesting enough, I'll be sure to post it. *has a sneaking suspicion she hasn't seen the last of Seto's VR worlds*

I hope you enjoyed reading my little Halloween submission for this year, and that everyone has a safe and happy Halloween – even if a kindly magician-dragon isn't involved – at least as far as we are able to tell! ^_~


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